Picnics beneath the Willow
by LILMISSS
Summary: 12 years. He waits for her, and she waits for him. Roxas and Naminé oneshot. Rated for fluff and cheese.


_12 Years Ago_

"Up here, Naminé," Roxas calls out, as he sets up the mat beneath the grand willow tree. He carefully places the basket in the middle, and watches as Naminé clambers up the hill. He extends out a hand to her and she takes it gratefully, smiling and panting, her cheeks rosy from the climb.

"Thank you, Roxas," she responds between her gasps for breath, and Roxas lets out a laugh at how exhausted she is. He gingerly irons out the mat for her as she slumps down, lying on her back, watching the clouds and how the leaves rustle. As she rests, he clumsily opens up the basket, and tries very hard not to damage the delicate wrapping of the sandwiches and fruit salads she managed to do up for their first picnic.

"I'm done," he finally announces, and Naminé gets up, stretching a little.

"Mm, it smells good," she remarks, grinning as Roxas shakes his head. They both know that Roxas wouldn't be able to cook or make a sandwich to save his life. She crawls towards him and sits up, gently linking her arm with his, and taking a bite of her own sandwich.

They enjoy the closeness of each other and the sandwiches in silence, and when Roxas finishes his sandwich and his portion of the fruit salad, he grunts as he lay down on the mat, resting his head on Naminé's slender legs. He looks up and sees the girl he is, and will forever be, in love with, and without a second thought he reaches his arm up to rest behind her neck.

He fiddles with the necklace that she wears. Naminé treasured the necklace greatly; she never takes it off. She held it dearly to her heart. He doesn't try to take it off, but instead he releases the necklace and twirls a lock of her hair around his finger, watching her hypnotically. He doesn't know what he is doing, but he does it anyway because she is so beautiful.

But before he can pull her lips to his, she playfully slaps his arm away. "I'm eating, Roxas," she murmurs, but they both know that she can never resist his lips if she ever tries, so she quickly places the sandwich on the plate and bends her head down to kiss him on his forehead, then his nose, and then his lips.

And before Roxas asks for more tiny kisses, she pulls away, ruffles his hair, and continues to eat, as her hand reaches for his. He places their intertwined hands on where his heart beats, and doesn't say any more, as he waits for her.

* * *

_10 years ago_

Roxas stands up and runs a frustrated hand through his mass of blonde hair. He is due to leave for the army camp in a few minutes. It will be the last time he will be able to see his parents, or his beloved Naminé for a long while, as he serves the army for two years.

Finally, his parents arrive, along with Naminé and her parents as well. They fly over to Roxas and send him their merry well-wishers, but it is Naminé that he yearns to see the most. And when she peeps out from behind the four parents, he is enveloped into a tight, painful hug by her.

"I'll miss you," she whispers softly, and Roxas feels her hand slip into his back pocket for a brief second. He doesn't think much about it, until she gives him a subtle wink and moves back for his parents to give him their hugs as well. There was something out of place about how she looks, but he doesn't bother.

"Have fun in university," Roxas tells her sincerely, "and don't fall in love with anyone else!"

Naminé chuckles. "Oh, Roxas, don't be so insecure." And her eyes tell him, _because I only have my heart for you._ "Just make sure you don't turn gay with all the men around."

At this, he laughs. "Of course not. I'll wait for you."

"As will I," is her perfect reply.

As the men stream into the building, Roxas nods once and walks forth, as they make their separate ways. And when Roxas becomes sure that his parents or her parents are not able to see him anymore, he checks his back pocket and not to his surprise, an ornate little bag that was no doubt sewn by Naminé herself is found.

He opens it and the first thing he sees is a slip of paper. He reads it with a heavy heart, even though it is barely an hour into army camp.

_Roxas,_

_I hope this finds you well. To prove that I will wait for you just as I know you will wait for me, I'm giving you my necklace to remind yourself of us. You know how much it means to me, and I trust that you will take care of it. _

_I will miss you so much, Roxas, and I love you. _

_Naminé _

* * *

_8 Years Ago_

He walks out, a more buff, more tan young man. He clutches the necklace tightly, and waits for her, just as she had waited for him for the two years they have been apart.

Roxas watches her approach, looking mildly confused, as she cheerfully greets the other men passing her and saying hello for motives unknown. Perhaps it is the hypnotic sway of her hips, her luscious lips, or perhaps her sweet smile that attracts men. As she is swarmed by her male friends, Roxas can't help but feel a slight lurch in his stomach at it.

But that feeling disappears as she spots him watching. Her eyes instantly brighten up and she hurriedly pushes past the other men, into his aching arms, as they embraced tightly, never wanting to let go.

They don't need to say anything, as they felt their feelings pour into each other. When they finally pull away, Roxas opens up his palm, revealing the necklace, still as beautiful as it was before.

Her eyes sparkle with glee and he reaches to the back of her neck, locking the chain of her necklace in place, right where it belongs with Naminé.

Roxas clutches her hand tightly, his eyes shut. "You have no idea how much I thought of you," he murmurs into her ear, and she chuckles.

"I can beat the number of times you've thought of me, with the number of times I've thought of you," she replies sweetly.

"Oh yeah? How many?" he jokes, and she surprises him with such a genuine answer that he kisses her right away.

"_I think of you all the time_."

* * *

_1 Year Ago_

"Let me go!" Naminé laughs, kicking and hitting lightly at Roxas, as he lifts her up the hill, with the grand old willow tree, still standing and watching over them.

"I'll never let go of you if circumstances permitted so," Roxas responds naturally, and Naminé hits him again, yelling "corny!" as he sets her down and unfurls the mat. Systematically, they went about setting up their picnic, and in a few minutes they are finished and eating beneath the stars.

They don't speak much, as they quickly finish their meal. Roxas is the first, and he lies down on his back, looking at the stars.

Naminé soon joins him in star gazing, and he takes her hand, squeezing it. As Roxas slowly drifts off to sleep, she jumps up suddenly and squeals, "A shooting star! Make a wish, Roxas, make a wish!"

She pulls her hand away from him in excitement and clasps her hands together, closing her eyes. She whispers something inaudible. Roxas looks at her and knows exactly what he would wish for. He closes his eyes as well and mouths it, as Naminé gets up and looks at him eagerly, her cheeks blushing furiously.

"What did you wish for?" she asks curiously, beaming at him.

Roxas smiles and touches her cheek tenderly. "If I tell you, it may not come true," he tells her shyly, and she sighs.

"Do you want me to tell you what I wished for?" she asks after a short moment. Roxas raises an eyebrow at her, and shrugs.

She beams at him and pulls herself closer to him, her breath tingling his every nerve. She raises her lips to his ears and she whispers softly, so softly Roxas almost didn't catch it, _"I wish we could get married and live happily ever after."_

Roxas then looks at her and smiles. "What?" she asks, genuinely confused.

"Now that you told me your wish," he begins, as he subtly slipped his hand into his pocket, "I can tell you what _I _wished for."

"Really? What?"

"_I wished for your hand in marriage."_

* * *

_Now_

Roxas takes Naminé's hand. "Hey, sunshine," he greets. "Ready for it?"

She nods once, a little dazed by the blindfold. "Of course. We're finally alone."

"No parents," he remarks.

"No random well-wishers," she adds.

"No more celebration parties," Roxas reminds.

"And no more puffy wedding dress!" Naminé triumphantly announces. Roxas laughs, shaking his head.

"You looked beautiful in it though," he tells her.

"Even if it looked like a pastry?"

"Even if it looked like a pastry, Naminé."

He leads her into the porch of their new home, carefully making sure she doesn't trip. They take off their shoes and walk in further. Roxas leads her to the living room, and he glances at the framed photographs of each other, from more than a decade ago, to much more recently during their wedding. He passes the wide-screen television; the one that he specially picked out so they could watch dumb dramas together.

And then he stops once they reach the entrance to the backyard. He slides open the glass windows and lets her through. "You may see it for yourself now," he proudly tells her, and she pulls off the blindfold.

She sees a small, growing willow tree in their vast backyard, with a mat and a picnic basket beneath it. Roxas and Naminé look at each other and exchange wistful smiles, as they walk towards their picnic spot, hand in hand.

* * *

**I needed to get the scenes off my mind because I've been plagued by it. And I wanted it to stop, because it wouldn't happen to me. So I thought the best way was to pour it out into a fanfic. Thank you for reading it. And it's the first time I used present tense all the way _**

**Review :3**


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